‘40 pc women in Delhi face abuse threat’

About 40 per cent of women surveyed in Delhi said they have been sexually harassed in a public place such as a bus or park in the past year, with most of the crimes occurring in the daytime, researchers said. 

Further, 33 per cent of women have stopped going out in public and 17 per cent have quit their jobs rather than face harassment in public places. “What this means is that women, despite Nirbhaya, are still afraid,” said Mahesh Nalla, from the Michigan State University in US. 

Nirbhaya became the pseudonym given to the gang rape victim whose death in 2012 brought worldwide attention to violence against women. “Women in India do not feel safe being in public spaces, which is clearly a human rights issue,” Nalla said.

While sexual harassment is a problem experienced by women worldwide, it may be more relevant  in emerging democracies such as India and other countries in South Asia where women are becoming more involved in the workforce, said Nalla. 

“The problem is intensified by the existence of a cramped, inadequate public transportation system, massive youth migration to urban areas and the fact that India is a traditional patriarchal society where many still believe a woman’s place is in the home,” he said. 

Nalla and Manish Madan, assistant professor at StocktonUniversity, surveyed about 1,400 men and women in the capital city of New Delhi on a host of issues including perceptions and history of sexual harassment, use of public transportation, safety in public spaces and police effectiveness in dealing with these concerns.